


A Witch's Heart

by Sammynughh



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Baba Yagas, Dean Winchester Thinks He's Funny, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt Dean Winchester, Hurt Sam Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, No Castiel (Supernatural), No Mary Winchester, No Sex, No Smut, No Wincest, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, Rowena Is Up To Her Tricks, Sam Knows His Lore, Season/Series 12, Surprise Ending, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-29 01:20:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18216266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammynughh/pseuds/Sammynughh
Summary: WARNING MATURE AUDIENCES ONLYThis is NOT Wincest or Destiel.No Smut, A Storyline w/Monsters, Action, Drama, Hurt!Brother, Protective!Brother, Brothers Share Bed - Nothing SexualWORDS:  4 Chapters. 3K+ words/Chapter.Work is Complete.I started writing this before March 3, 2018. I finally finished it March 21, 2018. Editing took time.SUMMARY:  Season 12 - No mention of Mary or Castiel. (Mary is off w/BMOL. Cas is dealing with other things.)Sam goes on a hunt alone. It's not far and it's suppose to be a milk run. Just a typical haunting. A piece of cake, right? Wrong.Sam's in trouble and needs Dean's help. Dean doesn't question anything. He drops everything and hauls ass.This story involves witches called Baba Yagas. Lucky for the Winchesters, they know a crafty witch of their own.~~~~~This story is SPN canon-divergent. Meaning any altered SPN fact in this story is completely on purpose. SPN Characters are not mine.





	1. Bah Bah Yogi?

"Dean, I need help." Sam's hands are shaking as he tries to keep blood off his cell phone.

"Where are you?" Dean sounds either angry or anxious.

Either way, Sam doesn't care. Sam knows Dean's the only one that can help him now. He gives his brother his location.

"I'm 30 minutes away. I'll be there in 15. Don't move!" Dean hangs up before Sam can explain anything.

Hopefully nothing will happen to Dean on his way in. Hopefully.

~~~~~

Sam hears Dean's special knock and goes to the door and unlocks it.

Sam's been hiding in an abandoned 4 story office building on the 2nd floor for hours. He gave Dean the suite number and true to his word, he got there in 15 minutes. Maybe less.

As soon as Dean sees the condition Sam's in his personality switches from scalding parent mode to concerned brother. "Sammy! What happened!" He quickly helps Sam get back into the piece of shit office chair he'd been sitting in.

Sam is covered in blood and is obviously still bleeding from somewhere. His hands are both bright crimson as he goes back to holding his torso in pain. "I was bit."

"By what?" Dean's trying to get Sam's shirt off, but Sam's not cooperating.

Sam yells, "Just stop!"

Dean throws his hands up in surrender.

Sam is winded. "It wasn't a vampire or a werewolf."

Dean is patient with his younger brother. "It could be anything Sam. Let me see the bite and I might know what we're dealing with."

Sam leans back and lifts his shirt. The bite is large and deep. There's also a chunk of flesh missing. Dean would swear Sam was bit by a small shark. "You sure it wasn't a vampire?"

Sam's patient as he nods. "I'm sure. At first I thought she was a vamp." Sam stands up and almost falls.

Dean quickly places his arm around him. "What are you trying to do?"

Sam's very pale and breathing hard. "I have to show you." He points toward a painter's drop cloth on the ground.

Dean looks at the drop cloth. It's got blood on it and under it. Dean knows there's a body under that bloody cloth.

Sam sees that his brother is lost to his own thoughts as he stares at the covered body. Sam tugs on Dean's arm. "Dean, it's okay."

Dean's jolted back into the land of the living. His mind was lost to memories of bloody deeds once done by his own demonic hands. Sam tells him what to expect if he looks under that drop cloth.

"She wasn't human when she bit me." Sam winces as pain floods his body yet again.

Dean has Sam sit back down. He looks around the office space and it's mostly vacant. There's a discarded file cabinet, chairs, waste paper basket, a few more painter's drop cloths and scattered trash. He takes his flannel shirt off and presses it to Sam's wound causing him to curse in pain. "You can't stay here Sam. You're bleeding out."

"I know." He sighs. "There's two more of her."

"How do you know?" He starts looking around now. Ever vigilant.

"She's a Baba Yaga." Sam's head goes back as he tries to breathe through the pain.

Dean thinks _what the fuck_ , "Bah bah Yogi?"

Sam grins, "Baba Yaga. A slovic shape-shifting witch that travels with two sisters. They tend to shift into snake like creatures with a venomous bite." He points toward an object next to the file cabinet. "That's her pestle. I didn't see her mortar."

Dean goes to look at it, but doesn't touch it. "Does she mix potions with a giant mortar and pestle?"

"She supposedly magically flies on the mortar and uses the pestle as a club-type weapon." Sam gasps as he wipes sweat from his face. "The venom's getting to me Dean. It's affecting my nervous system causing extreme pain. My vision is shot too. I've been hiding here for way too long. I should have called you sooner, but I thought I could get away on my own."

Dean quickly stands beside Sam as he sits in the office chair and comforts him. He holds his head to his body. "Shhh, I'll get you outta here Sammy."

Sam swallows hard and wishes he had some water. Instead he concentrates on Dean's fingers in his damp hair.

"The car's in the parking lot, right at the entrance. We just need to get you downstairs. You think you can manage that?" Dean pulls back and looks into Sam's pale and sweaty face. "Sammy?"

Sam nods. "Okay. Yeah." He swallows hard again. "Grab her heart."

"Excuse me?" Dean gives Sam a confused look.

"I ripped her heart out."

Dean's eyebrows go up. "Of course you did."

"Shut up." Sam's not only tired of talking. He's just tired and would like nothing better than to lay down and sleep. He can't catch his breath and keeps gasping. "It should be around her or me. The other two will want it. It could protect us."

Dean understands now. "A bargaining chip."

"Exactly." Sam's considering bargaining with another powerful witch.

Dean doesn't see it anywhere, so it must be under the painter's drop cloth beside the body. He carefully lifts the cloth and is surprised by what he sees. A very bloody woman. Her face obscured by blood soaked long hair. Her head is almost decapitated. Her arms are stretched out and hands curled up with long claws. The center of her chest is a puddle of blackness. Blood is everywhere. He finally sees a black lump at her feet that he recognizes as a heart, but it's so tar-like. Dean refuses to touch it. He pulls out his pocket knife and cuts a piece of clean painter's cloth. He uses his knife to place the heart on the cloth and wraps it up. He gets lucky and finds a plastic grocery bag in the corner of the room with some other trash. He puts the bundle in the plastic.

When he turns his attention back to his brother he sees him slumped over in his chair. "No no no. Sammy!" He gets to him and shakes his head. "Wake up."

Sam moans.

Dean takes a deep breath. "Okay." His own heart starts beating normally. "We gotta get moving brother. Come on." He gets his arm around his sasquatch little brother and puts all his effort into getting Sam down two flights of stairs.

Once on the ground floor, Dean can see out the large glass windows of the entryway to the office building. There's a woman flying around on a large disc above the Impala. Her dress flowing behind her. Another woman is pacing the sidewalk outside the building.

Dean ducks down with Sam. They move back into the stairwell and sit on the steps.

"Why haven't they come in after us?" Dean is worried about Sam.

"Before this pain got too intense, I put up sigils to ward off witches. I was going..." Sam swallows, but he's finding it more difficult. He starts to fade out.

Dean slaps his face some. "Come on Sammy! Stay awake!"

Sam blinks widely and takes a deep, painful breath. "I was going to tell you to bring witch bullets, but you hung up on me."

Dean rolls his eyes and sighs. "There's some in the trunk."

Sam sighs. "Also in the glove box."

"Really?" Dean doesn't remember putting any there.

"I put a magazine full of them in there after the last time..." Sam falls sideways on the step he's sitting on. "I need to rest."

"Not yet you don't." Dean pulls his brother up. "We need to get you out of here."

A drunk homeless person comes wandering into the stairwell. Dean thinks this could be the break they need. He reaches into his wallet and pulls out a $20. "Hey man, come here."

He stumbles toward Dean and Sam.

"How'd you like an easy way to get $20?" Dean shows him the money.

"Sure." He's very interested.

"Just go out front and ask that lady for money. If she says no, keep asking. If she gives you money, go to the other lady by the black car. Ask her for money too. Can you do that?" Dean's holding the $20 out of reach.

"Well, yeah. I was going to do that anyway." He's reaching for the $20.

"I'll be watching. You do this and come back, I'll give you more." Dean gives him the money.

He's very happy. He heads for the exit of the stairwell toward the front of the office building.

"Come on Sammy. Time to move our asses." Dean lifts Sam and they leave the stairwell, but head toward the back exit of the office building.

Once outside Dean sees several parked vehicles, but an older model Ford F150 pickup catches his eye. He helps Sam get to the truck. It's windows are halfway down. He reaches in and unlocks it, helps Sam inside, hot wires it and takes off. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No. Call Rowena and go home." Sam moans and winces over every bump.

Dean calls Rowena while driving. Dean has her on speaker.

"Why should I help you this time?" She sounds put out.

Sam answers. "We've got the heart of a Baba Yaga."

There's silence.

Dean says, "Rowena?"

"I'll meet you at the bunker." She hangs up.

Dean can't believe Sam as he puts his phone away. "You're just going to give her the heart?"

Sam feels himself fading. "What choice do I have?"

Dean's 5 minutes from the bunker when he notices Sam's unconscious. "Sam!" He shakes him and gets no response.

Dean pulls over and feels for a pulse. He can't find one. "Fuck! SAM!" He gets out and pulls Sam's lifeless body out of the truck, not being too careful about it either. He makes sure his head doesn't get hit though. He starts doing CPR on the roadside. After several minutes of compressions, Dean gets a pulse. It's not strong, but Sam's breathing and his heart's beating again.

"Come on baby brother. Stay with me just a little bit longer." Dean lifts Sam up and gets him back into the truck. He has no idea how. Only by shear will and utter fear that he might die right there if he doesn't get him to Rowena fast.

He arrives at the bunker and pulls into the garage.

Rowena meets him in the garage. "Where have you been? You should have been here 15 minutes ago?"

"He died. I had to stop and do CPR." Dean slams the truck door as he goes around to Sam's side. "My bad."

Rowena smirks and rolls her eyes. "Don't have to be so melodramatic." She follows Dean to Sam's side of the truck.

"Oh my!" She touches Sam's pale cheek. "Poor lad. The Baba Yaga put a hurting on you."

She looks at Dean. "He must've really done something to get her attention. They don't just attack unprovoked."

"Can you undo it? Heal him?" Dean's looking desperate and upset at seeing his brother like this.

She opens her handbag and pulls out a vial. "Where was he bit?"

Dean uses a lever on Sam's bucket seat in the pickup truck and leans him back. He lifts Sam's bloody t-shirt. He then removes the blood soaked flannel shirt pressed to the wound and tosses it to the garage floor.

Rowena lifts the vial over Sam's wound. She places a hand on his forehead and chants a spell. Her eyes glow lavender as she pours the orange liquid into the bite wound.

Sam wakes up screaming, "DEEEEANNN!!!" His back arching in pain. So much excruciating pain that he passes out again.

Rowena and Dean watch as the wound knits itself together in a matter of seconds. Sam still looks sickly pale, but he's no longer bleeding.

"The poison is out of his system now." Rowena removes her hand from Sam's brow and places a lid on her vial. She returns it to her bag.

Dean is looking at Sam and watching him breathe. He seems to be okay.

Rowena is holding her hand out to Dean and clearing her throat.

Dean looks at her hand then up toward her impatient eyes. "Oh! The heart." He reaches into the console of the truck and pulls the plastic bag out that has the heart inside it. He hold on to it. "Just out of curiosity, what are your plans for it?"

"Don't worry your wee head Dean Winchester." She pats his cheek. "I assure you I won't create any dark magic with it. I will just add it to my collection of occult objects. You never know when something like this might come in handy. I have items a lot darker than the heart of a Baba Yaga."

Dean hands it to her. She places it in her handbag. "Just so you know, her sisters will continue to look for Samuel. They saw him through her eyes. They saw him kill her and are seeking revenge." She pulls out a leather pouch and tries to hand it to Dean.

He holds his hands up. "I know better than taking a small pouch from a witch."

She smiles. "I like you." She holds the pouch out to him. "The ingredients in this pouch: cep mushroom, dill, mustard seed and garlic. Mix these ingredients with chicken blood and place the liquid in a bottle with a wick. Light the wick and say, "Vomicae, putramen, nex." As you throw the bottle at the Baba Yaga. She will implode." She takes Dean's hand and places the pouch in his hand.

He halfway expected a curse to land on him.

"That's enough for one batch. You'll need to double it to kill two of them. Each ingredient is one teaspoon." She looks at Dean who's looking at the pouch like it's about to explode. She sighs as she gets a pen and piece of paper out of her bag. She writes everything down and takes the pouch out of Dean's hand. She places the folded up paper in the pouch and places it back in his hand. "Don't lose that."

She walks out of the garage and out of the bunker with the click-clack of her heels.

Dean places the pouch in his pocket. He leans into the truck and tries waking up his brother. He won't wake up.

Dean gets a wheelchair and slides Sam from the truck to the wheelchair and wheels him to the showers. He decides he needs to get all the blood off of him before putting him to bed. He leaves Sam in the chair as he undresses him. Lifting him up to remove his blood soaked Jeans, but leaving his boxers on in case he wakes up. Give him some modesty.

He strips himself down to his boxer briefs as well.

He has Sam in the shower stall with the hand held shower nozzle. The water is perfect as he rinses the dried blood off of Sam's skin. Dean has Sam's head back. Sam doesn't stir until Dean gets Sam's hair wet. Dean's washing the blood from his hair where Sam kept touching it with bloody hands.

"Dean?" Sam's confused about his current situation.

"It's okay Sammy." Dean is scrubbing Sam's scalp with shampoo. "Rowena cured you. You almost died. Just let me get this blood off you and you can go to bed."

Sam closes his eyes and actually enjoys Dean washing his hair.

Dean rinses the shampoo from Sam's hair. He then picks up a washcloth and squeezes out some body wash. He move the washcloth over Sam's neck and shoulders. He moves over his back and then to his chest and abs. He notices Sam is a bit aroused, but doesn't say anything. Hell, anyone would be aroused having someone else bathe them. Right?

Sam takes the washcloth from Dean. "I can take it from here."

Dean squeezes Sam's shoulder and gets under the shower himself. He washes his own hair. He can't help but notice Sam sliding the washcloth into his boxers to clean his junk. He quickly looks away and rinses the shampoo from his hair. He then hands the shower handle to his brother.

Sam starts drinking from the sprayer.

"Sammy. Hang on." Dean takes it from him. "I'll get you some water." Dean puts his robe and house shoes on. He quickly gets a coupld bottles of water. He returns to find Sam dozing off again. He wakes him and hands him a bottle of water that he drinks down quickly.

Dean continues the shower and Sam rinses the soap off. He attempts to stands, but quickly falls back into the wheelchair. Dizziness overcoming him.

"You alright?" Dean takes the shower handle from him.

"Yeah. Just lightheaded from blood loss, I guess." He rubs his forehead.

"You finished rinsing off?" Dean hands him the shower handle again.

Sam finishes rinsing and hands it back.

Dean soapped up while Sam rinsed off. He rinses himself off next then turns the shower off.

He hands Sam a towel. He uses another towel to dry himself off. He then uses another towel to dry off the wheel chair. He gives Sam the second bottle of water that he drinks a little slower.

Dean puts his robe and house shoes on then wheels Sam to his room. He gets clothes for Sam. "This is gonna suck, but nothing we haven't done before, right?"

Sam just nods while color tries to enter his pale cheeks.

"First, out of the wet boxers." Dean takes the empty bottle of water and sets it aside. He places his hands on the arms of the wheel chair. "Use my shoulders to help you lift yourself up and pull them off." Dean looks away.

Sam nods as Dean looks away. He wraps one arm around Dean's neck and lifts himself up enough to pull his wet underwear off. He places his towel on his lap.

Dean picks up his wet underwear and puts them in his sink. He then hands Sam his clean boxers. Sam pulls them up his legs and they repeat the same process for him to get his boxers on. Dean gives him his sweat pants to do the same thing with. He then puts on his t-shirt. After all this, Sam's exhausted.

Dean helps him get into bed. Sam sighs with relief at being alive and in his own bed.

Dean moves Sam's hair from his face. "You have no idea..." He's about to turn away.

Sam grabs Dean's wrist. "I'm cold."

Dean can feel his freezing fingers as his shaking hand holds his wrist.

"Hang on. I'll be right back." He rubs Sam's upper arm. Sam lets Dean go.

Dean goes to his own room and puts on dry underwear and a t-shirt. He finds some flannel pajama bottoms and puts them on. He grabs his blanket from his bed and returns to Sam's room.

He throws his blanket over Sam's blanket, turns off the bedside lamp and then gets into bed beside him. Sam lays on his side and Dean wraps himself around Sam.

Sam is shivering. "You'll be okay Sammy." Dean holds Sam close, his front to Sam's back.

After about 15 minutes, Sam stops shivering. "Thanks for helping me." Sam holds Dean's hand in his own hands.

Dean notices Sam's hands aren't as cold as they were earlier. "Try to get some sleep. I'll feed you a good breakfast in a few hours, okay?"

Sam just makes a slight hum as he starts falling asleep.


	2. Sisterly Vengeance

An elderly woman's face is right in Sam's face. Her eyes are blueish gray, but her pupils are glowing lavender. Her silver hair is falling around Sam's face like vines, almost alive and threatening to choke him. Her mouth is wrinkled and lips are thin. "You killed her." Her voice is eerily angelic.

Sam says nothing. He just stares at her defiantly.

"You will surely die." Her mouth changes. Snake-like scales form across her lips as she opens her mouth revealing snake-like fangs.

Sam's unable to move. He struggles to get free. He sees her getting closer to his neck. He says, "No!" Her thin fork tongue slides out and slaps him. He yells, "Stop!"

The Baba Yaga yells at him in Dean's voice, "Sam wake up!"

Sam's confused, "Dean?"

▪¤▪¤▪

Dean taps Sam's cheek again and gently shakes his brother. "Wake up!"

Sam suddenly wakes up and the Baba Yaga is gone. He covers his face with both hands trying to unsee what his mind saw. That wicked old woman. Was she real? Was that one of the sisters coming after him in his sleep?

"Sam?" Dean's worried. He's waiting for his brother to calm down.

Sam moves his hands through his hair. He opens his eyes and sees Dean's concerned look on his face.

He places his hand on Dean's face. "I'll be alright."

Dean takes Sam's hand into his. "Tell me what that was about."

Sam pulls his hand away and sits up on the side of the bed. "It's not important. It was just a dream."

Dean stands up. "If you say so." He leaves Sam alone in his room.

Sam lies back down and looks toward the ceiling. Shadows are casting images that have him seeing things. Fangs, claws, evil eyes... he rolls over to his side and closes his eyes. "It was just a dream. Nothing more." Before he knows it, he falls back asleep.

~~~~~

Dean is making breakfast. His music is playing on the small bluetooth speaker in the kitchen while he's cutting up fresh fruit. Blueberry muffins should be done any second. He scrapes strawberries into a bowl and starts cutting up some apples when the timer goes off. He pulls out the muffins and turns off the oven. He finishes the apples and sets the bowl aside. He's about to start cooking the bacon when he hears Sam yell as if in pain.

Dean immediately pulls his weapon and runs for Sam's room. He doesn't expect intruders, but you can't be too careful in their world.

He enters Sam's room and sees him being choked by something that's not there. He's being lifted off the bed! Held above the bed by something invisible! "SAMMY!!" Dean drops his weapon and jumps up on the bed. He grabs hold of his brother by the waist. "SAM!"

Sam opens his eyes and he's toppling on top of his brother onto his bed. He's coughing as he tries catching his breath.

Dean gets out from under Sam and he's grateful for the mattress beneath them. Doesn't mean he won't have bruises. Speaking of bruises, he looks at Sam and sees bruises forming around Sam's neck. "Let me guess, the Baba Yaga?"

Sam just nods. He's still trying to catch his breath.

Dean can't imagine what his brother's going through. He sits next to Sam and hugs him. "We're going to hit the books and figure this out, okay."

Sam holds onto Dean. He hasn't been this afraid in a long time.

Dean comforts his brother as long as he needs comforting. His hand moving in circles over his back.

Sam finally lifts his head and wipes at his eyes. He swallows and winces at doing so.

Dean gently touches his throat. "You're bruised pretty bad. Get dressed and come into the kitchen. I'll have an ice pack ready."

Sam nods. He whispers, "Thanks."

Dean picks up his gun as he leaves Sam's room.

Once Sam gets dressed and cleans up in the bathroom, he joins Dean in the kitchen.

Dean looks up from plating eggs and a muffin on Sam's plate. He goes into the freezer and removes the ice pack he made and gives it to Sam who is sitting down with his cup of coffee and laptop computer. "Put that away for now. You need to eat."

Sam doesn't argue. He takes the ice pack, that's wrapped up in a dish towel, and places it on the front of his neck.

"Those bruises look worse. That ice should help." Dean wishes he could have gotten to him sooner. He finishes plating Sam's breakfast and sets it in front of him with his daily glass of orange juice.

Dean sits down with his plate and coffee. First thing in his mouth is the bacon.

Sam picks at the muffin. He then realizes how hungry he is and starts eating his eggs.

Dean feels better seeing Sam eat.

~~~~~

After hours of research in the MOL library and on line, they have found very little about Baba Yaga lore in regards to attacking victims through dreams.

Sam decides to call Rowena. She tells Sam that the three sisters are bound as one. The other two saw him kill the third and are following him everywhere he goes. He's been marked by a curse they placed on him as soon as her heart stopped beating. The only way to lift the curse is to find and kill the other two sisters.

Finding them won't be hard. He's been marked by their curse, so he can use that in reverse to locate the ones who cursed him. Rowena gave Sam the correct locator spell to use. Once again, Sam's in her debt.

Sam spreads out a map of Kansas on the War Room light table. He mixes some herbs and ingredients into a bowl. "Rowena said they can't be far. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to get into my dreams."

Dean watches Sam work.

Sam cuts his hand and bleeds into the bowl. He wraps his hand up in a towel. He recites the words given to him by Rowena then throws a lit match into the bowl. Once the ingredients ignite, he dumps the bowl over the map. The blue flames spread across the entire map. Then the flame goes out completely, but there's only one spot on the whole map that's burnt. It's Glen Elder, Kansas. A city right off of Waconda Lake.

"Waconda Lake. We've gone fishing there." Dean notices Sam isn't as enthusiastic over finding out the location of these witches. "What is it Sam?"

"We have to kill them Dean. Both of them." He feels defeated before he's even begun.

Dean remembers Rowena's leather pouch. "Wait!" He runs to get his jeans from yesterday and finds the pouch in the front pocket where he left it. He brings it back to Sam who's now in the kitchen at his laptop. "Here."

Sam takes it and carefully opens it.

"Rowena said to mix that up in chicken blood, put it in a glass bottle with a wick, light it and toss it at the Baba Yaga to kill it. You'll need to make a second batch for bitch number 2. She said a teaspoon of each of the ingredients that she wrote down on that paper." Dean grins.

Sam feels a little better. "She's sure this will work?"

Dean nods. "Yeah. It's like a grenade that will cause the C-hunt to explode on impact."

"Cool." Sam is now grinning. After looking at the list of ingredients, he feels better knowing they're readily accessible.

Sam gets online and orders the cep mushrooms making sure they're from Denmark. Since he's ordering the mushrooms, he decides to order the rest of the ingredients from Denmark as well. He has his order shipped overnight to their P.O. Box. "Dean."

"Yeah." He stops doing dishes and looks toward Sam.

"The mushroom doesn't grow here. It can only be found in Europe. That's fine because I feel better knowing all the ingredients come from Scandinavia. I placed an order coming from Denmark that will arrive at our P.O. Box by 10am tomorrow." Sam sighs.

"Do I even want to know what you paid in shipping?"

"No." Sam just closes his laptop and buries his head in his arms. "You'll have to pick it up. If they get a good location on me, I'm done for."

"I was hoping you'd help me go get Baby. Those bitches should be in Glen Elder, right?" Dean just stands there in hopes that he doesn't have to leave Baby all alone another night.

Sam lifts his head. "Sorry."

Dean sets the dish towel down and goes to sit next to Sam. "It's not your fault."

Sam scoffs.

"It's not. She would have killed you, right?" Dean looks into Sam's eyes.

"Yeah." Sam still thinks there might have been something different he could have done.

Dean hugs Sam. He just looks like he needs it. "Baby will be fine where she is. You're what's important." He pulls back and looks into Sam's eyes. "I'm going to keep an eye on you tonight. Those bitches won't get a chance to hurt you again."

Sam feels better. He'd never ask for dean's help, so he's glad Dean offered.

Dean knows Sam hates having to ask anyone for help. Even his own brother. That's why he insisted on helping without Sam having to ask.

~~~~~

Sam's been looking through books trying to find other ways to kill the sisters.

Dean has been looking through books on ways to keep anyone, witch or not, from invading your dreams while you sleep.

"Sam! I think I found a way to keep them out of your dreams!" Dean plops the book he's been reading in front of Sam. "It says here that you can make a protecting spell that you place on your sleeping area. Nothing will be able to penetrate it as you sleep. It's ancient Native American magic. Kinda like those dream catchers. Did you know those are also used in real magic spells?" Dean was truly fascinated by all he has read.

Sam sets aside the book he was reading and picks up the book Dean set in front of him. After a few minutes of reading he jumps up from his seat and hugs Dean tightly.

"Whoa." Dean's surprised by Sam's sudden grip on him.

"You have no idea what you've done for me." Sam is truly relieved. He won't have to fear going to sleep tonight.

Dean touches Sam's bruised neck. "I think I do." Dean then carefully hugs him back.

Sam lets his brother go with a smile.

"We should still stay up as late as possible. Once they realize they've been blocked from my dreams, they're going to possibly try something new. Maybe even move from their current location." Dean shrugs.

"We can search for them again on the map to be sure. They can't get inside the bunker unless it's through me." Sam looks at the protection spell for the list of ingredients. "We have these ingredients. I just mix them in a pouch, say these words and place the pouch under my mattress. It also says a dream catcher wouldn't hurt."

Dean thinks. "Do we have one?"

"If we do, it might be cursed. We need one that's innocuous." Sam sees Dean's confused look. "Um, plain and ordinary."

Dean rolls his eyes. "I knew that." He stands up. "I need beer and some things from the store. I can see if the novelty store has one."

"There's an arts and crafts store next to the bakery. They sell some Native American tapestries. Maybe they have one." Sam finishes writing down the list of ingredients from the book.

"Anything you need from the store?" Dean has Baby still on his mind.

"Chicken blood for the witch grenades. Oh! Some fresh spinach and salad mix. You know the kind I like. I need more iron because of the blood loss." He knows Dean hates shopping for his produce.

"No problem. Don't you have some frozen chicken blood from the last spell you did?"

"Probably, but pick up some fresh blood anyway." Sam shrugs.

Dean just nods as he heads for the garage leaving Sam to his research on killing Baba Yagas.

~~~~~

While driving to town, Dean thinks about making a detour to get Baby, but doesn't. Instead he calls a wrecker and has her towed to a mechanic he knows in Lebanon. Dean gives the towing company one of his bogus credit cards. As soon as he hangs up with the towing company, he calls his mechanic buddy and lets him know that Baby will be paying him a visit. Just keep her safe and Dean will pay him storage for keeping her over night.

Dean's first stop is the arts and crafts store. He feels better knowing Baby will be locked up inside someplace safe tonight. He walks up to a clerk and gives her his winning smile. Of course she swoons like most females tend to around him. It's a gift. He asks her about dream catchers. She points him in the right direction.

"What's the difference in all of these?" Dean can't choose because there are so many different colors, shapes and sizes.

She explains. "These are all modeled after the Ojibwe Nation traditional designs, but they were crafted by different tribes. For instance, all of these were made by Navajos and these were made by Chippewas. Each one is labeled accordingly and were purchased from the Native American tribe marked."

Dean picks up one that has a stone arrow woven into the webbing. The feathers aren't bright like some. They're a muted gray with some specks of blue. He likes it because he and Sam are hunters and the arrow seems to represent that.

After purchasing the dream catcher, he's about to head for the store. Instead he stops at the bakery right next door to the arts and crafts store. He checks out their pie selection.

"Mr. Campbell! So good to see you again!" The kind woman behind the counter always has a friendly smile for Dean.

"Hello Debra, please call me Dean. As long as we've known each other, you should feel comfortable with using my first name by now." He gives her a smile.

She swoons... of course. "I know. Old habits."

"What kinds of pie do you have today?" His mouth is watering already.

"Georgia peach, Washington apple, black cherry, ..."

Dean holds his hand up. "Stop right there. Black cherry it is."

Debra gets Dean his pie and rings him up.

Dean gets back in the truck and heads to the grocery store. He gets out of the truck to go inside and suddenly he's no longer in the grocery store parking lot. He's inside a small cage in a dark area that smells like hay. "What the hell?!" He reaches for his gun and it's not there. He's got his cell phone, but can't get a signal. He looks for a way out of this cage, but it's locked tight. "HEY!!" He rattles the cage door. "ANYONE HEAR ME?!"

An old woman stands in front of his cage door. "You tell us where your brother is and we'll free you."

"Go to hell." Dean won't give up his brother.

"Wrong answer." She disappears leaving him in darkness.

He tries his cell phone again. No bars. No way to call or text. He needs to come up with another plan.

~~~~~

Sam has been researching for a long time. Dean should be back by now. He tries calling him for the third time and gets his voice mail again. He knows something happened to him. He can feel it in his gut.

He has enough ingredients to make one grenade, if he has chicken blood in the freezer. He goes searching for it... and... "YES!" He sets it on the counter. He fills the sink with warm water and sets the frozen container in the sink.

While that's thawing, he gets dressed to go find his brother.

Sam's putting on his flannel shirt in his bedroom. He's suddenly alarmed when he sees something odd in the mirror over his sink. He approaches it slowly. It's a piece a paper being held up by someone. This isn't a reflection. It's on the other side, like the book "Alice in the Looking Glass". Maybe it's a message from the grave? He cautiously gets close enough to read what's written with perfect cursive handwriting:

  
_"We have your brother._   
_We'll let him go unharmed_   
_if you come to us and bring_   
_our sister's heart._   
_You have 3 hours_   
_or we do to your brother_   
_what you did to our sister."_

  
As soon as he finishes reading the note, it vanishes and he sees Dean in a small cage. He's looking at his cell phone, but apparently he has no reception where he is. He knows Dean can't see or hear him.

Sam goes into the library. He uses his phone's GPS to try and locate Dean. It shows that Dean's still at the grocery store. That must have been his last location before the phone lost it's signal.

Time for unconventional methods. He uses a magical dowsing rod over a map to locate Dean. Bobby showed him how to use one of these a long time ago. Sam places Dean's toothbrush on the ledge of the giant pendulum. This personal item tells the magic who to look for. Sam then causes the rod to start swinging. It moves loosely over the map in all directions until it magically stops at an odd position. Sam looks at the place the needle's pointing, 20 miles from the bunker. "That's no where. Just farmland."

He repeats the process and gets the same results. "Fine. I'm coming Dean. Hang on."

Sam checks on the chicken blood. It's mostly thawed. Thawed enough for his little bottle. He uses a funnel and pours Rowena's ingredients from her pouch into a small glass bottle, fills the bottle with chicken blood, then places the cap on the bottle that has a wick going into the bloody mix and through the cap. "One witch grenade locked and loaded." He places it upright in his jacket pocket. He then places the container of chicken blood in the fridge.

Sam finds a box of witch killing bullets. He's not sure they'll work on Baba Yagas, but he's gotta try something. He loads his pistol magazine with these bullets and an extra magazine that will fit Dean's gun, supposing he still has it. He places the remaining box of bullets in a different pocket of his jacket with the extra magazine.

He's been debating calling Rowena. "Damn it!" He sighs as he finally decides to dial her number.


	3. Those Bit..Witches Get Theirs

"Hello Samuel. How are you feeling today?" Rowena sounds conniving as always.

Sam rolls his eyes as he paces the War Room with his cell phone to his ear. "I'm alive. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She asserts.

"One of the Baba Yagas have Dean. They want me and their sister's heart or they'll kill him."

"Oh dear. What will you do?" Her lack of empathy is obvious.

Sam hates her condescending voice. "I made one of the glass bombs you gave Dean the ingredients for. I'm out of cep mushrooms. I have witch killing bullets, but I'm not certain they'll work."

"Those bullets will work. Trust me. If Dean was able to kill Boyd and Catriona Loughlin with those bullets, those bullets will kill any witch including a Baba Yaga."

Sam feels somewhat better. "I need to borrow that heart. I'll return it, hopefully, with one or two more."

Rowena thinks on it. "How can I refuse a two for one offer? I'm almost at your door. In fact, I'm at your door right now."

Sam hears a knock at the bunker door.

He presses "End" on his cell phone and lets Rowena enter the bunker. She hands him the plastic wrapped heart that's still just the way Dean gave it to her.

"Thank you." Sam places the glass bomb he made into the pocket inside his jacket. He places the heart in the pocket he had the glass bomb in. No way he wants that witch's heart anywhere near his chest.

Rowena hands him a leather necklace with a charm on it. "This will protect you from any spells or curses, but it can't undo any already placed upon you. Just know it will keep anyone from cursing you any further."

Sam's surprised at her generosity. "Thank you again. You've been a great help."

She thinks about her son for the briefest of moments as she pats Sam's cheek. "Go save your brother."

She leaves the bunker and Sam closes the door behind her. He knows she uses magic to get around. He's curious, but knows that in the end she'll have a price to pay for all the dark magic she's used on so many lives.

Sam concentrates on what he's about to do. He doesn't have the Impala. The majority of their tools for hunting are in Baby's trunk. He does have the charm necklace. As he looks at it, he gets an idea.

He sits down and uses a marker on a piece of paper to draw the protection charm emblem. He turns the paper over and traces it on the back. He then pulls off his shirts and gets his shoulder damp with a wet cloth. He presses the paper to his shoulder and removes it, transfering the black ink image. After blotting his skin dry, he then traces the faint symbol on his skin using the black Sharpie. Once the ink dries, he puts his shirts back on.

He feels better knowing that if the necklace gets yanked off, he should still be protected. If nothing else, he can put the necklace on Dean once he finds him.

He goes to the weapons room and gets a shot gun with silver buckshot. He has no idea why, he just does. He grabs an angel blade too.

Something else catches his eye. A wooden box that has protective sigils on it. It has a label that says, "Pythonissam Interfectorem". Sam knows that in Latin that means "Witch Killer". The small box has a red paper tag on it's handle. Black words on the tag read, "DO NOT OPEN" on one side. On the other is a MOL catalog number. Sam carefully picks up the box. "Time to see what you're all about."

After pulling the file out of the archives on the mystery "Witch Killer" box, Sam takes the time to read everything in the small file about it. Basically a fog exits the box and goes straight for a spell caster's heart. The darker and more wretched the spell caster, the quicker the fog attacks and instantly kills whoever the fog attacks. There's nothing any sorcerer or witch can do to prevent this fog from doing what it's made to do. If you've only ever cast one spell and the person next to you never cast a spell, he could open the box and the fog will surely kill you, not him. If you're alone and open the box, the fog will kill you, if you've only ever cast one spell in your entire life. You'd only be safe if you've never done anything magically ever OR the person in the room with you has done more witchcraft.

The box being in a bunker full of Men of Letters that all know magic and practice it the way Sam and Dean would practice firing their guns... very dangerous to say the least. That explains the small lock on the box and key taped to the file about the box.

Once the fog kills one "witch", it returns to the box and the lid closes. It will NOT kill more than one "witch" at a time.

Sam is liking this box. He finds a bit of twine. He ties a slip knot around the box to keep the lid from opening accidentally once unlocked, but he wants to be able to open it quickly when the need arises. He places the key in his jeans front pocket.

Sam realizes he needs to hurry, since he's got 30 minutes to get to Dean. Just enough time if he speeds like hell.

He arrives at the location he marked on his phone GPS. There's a dilapidated barn and what use to be a farmhouse. The farmhouse has crumpled to the ground. The barn looks like it could fall over at any minute.

Sam pulls the key from his jeans and unlocks the "Witch Killer" box. The twine holds the lid closed.

He drives the MOL's 1941 black Chevy Master DeLuxe up to the barn with his driver's side window down. The barn doors come open, so he drives in with his headlights on. He sees Dean in a cage. The cage is in a horse stall. One of the sisters suddenly appear in front of the car. Her hand is out. "You have her heart?"

Sam pulls it from his jacket. "Let my brother go!"

She waves her hand. Two things happen - Dean is instantly sitting beside him in the car and the witch is holding her sister's heart.

Sam removes the twine from the box and is about to open the lid.

Dean places his hand over Sam's. "Look!"

"At what?" Sam wants to get this over with.

"Just watch." He points to the old woman as she kneels down in front of the car.

The brothers watch as the witch places the heart back into her dead sister's body. The third witch appears. The two wave their hands over their dead sister's body and recite an incantation. Soon, the dead sister gets up off the ground very alive and well.

After a quick family reunion with hugs and smiles the three women look toward Sam and Dean. They're no longer old looking. They're young and beautiful.

Sam says, "That's how she looked the night she attacked me. She suddenly changed into an old woman and then became that horrible snake."

Dean looks at Sam and takes a deep breath. "Emma, Elva and Elise Moller were born in 1534 in France. Their mother was a very powerful witch. They were born into a world full of magic and sorcery."

Dean continues, "The reason you were attacked is because you invaded their home. Inside that abandoned office building is where they store hundreds of years worth of their family history. It would be like having someone invade our bunker. We'd fight to the death to protect what's ours. Maybe even more so if we had hundreds of years worth of cherished memories stored there. Yes, they are Baba Yaga, but they can't stop being what they are. They have controlled what's in their nature. They don't kill people unless it's self defense or protecting what's theirs."

Dean's eyes are full of compassion toward Sam. "The two of you fought to the death and she lost fair and square. That's why I'm still alive. Why we're both still alive. Your warding on that office building didn't keep them out. They were waiting for us to leave so they could retrieve their sister and relocate their belongings, but we took Elva's heart with us. They couldn't bring her back without it. Emma and Elise will leave us in peace now that they have Elva."

Sam watched as Dean's eyes changed from green to blue then back again. He tried reaching for his gun, but "Dean" grabbed his wrist. Sam tried pulling his wrist away from "Dean". This only confirmed he wasn't "Dean" by not letting Sam go.

"Dean" reached up and tore the leather necklace with the charm from Sam's neck and tossed it to the floorboard. He then placed his hand on Sam's forehead.

"Dean" shifted into the Baba Yaga she really was, when her curse failed to work against Sam once again. "Why isn't this working?" She hissed.

Sam looked at the witch in disbelief that she played the role of his brother so perfectly. She also gave the illusion of a third witch next to the other two gathered outside the car.

Sam was finally able to pull his pistol from his jacket and aims it at her chest. "Witch killing bullets. You have a choice. Give me Dean and never bother me and my brother ever again, or die right now and I WILL kill your sisters. I'll find Dean because that's MY family. There won't be any of you coming back from where I send you." He quickly chambers a bullet. "The choice is yours."

She'd use magic to make the pistol vanish, but her magic won't work on him or anything he's touching for some reason. She thought it was the charm, but it's not. She tries leaving the car and can't. She reaches for the door handle and it's not there.

"The car has a witch's trap on it. You're stuck in here until I free you or kill you. I believe the story you told me. I wasn't there to steal anything from you and your sisters. I was there because the owners of the property told reporters that the building was haunted. He can't afford to demolish it and can't sell it because buyers keep seeing ghosts. I went there to try and free spirits that might be trapped inside the building. I was attacked and brutally beaten. I can take a fair fight. There was nothing fair about this fight. She shifted into a snake with rows of sharp fangs that bit a chunk out of my torso. I almost cut her head off. While she was trying to get her head on straight, I ripped her heart out. That's when I started feeling the venom from her bite hitting my nervous system." Sam can't tell if she's listening to him or not.

"Look, you have your sister back. Give me my brother and we can go our separate ways." He's so done with this woman. He's grateful that she did shift into her true younger self and was no longer masquerading as Dean.

She closes her eyes and places her fingers to her temples while concentrating.

Sam hopes she's communicating to her sisters to release Dean. If they're planning to fight, Sam's ready.

After a few minutes she lowers her hands and looks at Sam. "Elise will bring your brother."

"Good." Sam waits with the gun pointed at the witch. He's within arm's reach of the "Witch Killer" box as well. For all she knows, the box is used to hold his gun.

After waiting almost 10 minutes, Sam sees one of the witches bringing Dean toward the front of the car.

Sam's heart is racing. "Let him get into the back seat, then I'll release you."

As if Elise heard Sam, she pushes Dean toward the car and he trips to his knees.

Sam wants to jump out and help his brother, but refuses to relinquish his upper hand. He stays put and wills his brother to be strong and keep going.

Dean gets up slowly. He's in obvious pain. He gets into the back seat and shuts the door, panting. "She bit me Sammy."

Dean knows the man in the back seat is his brother because of the way he looked at Sam and the way he said his name - Sammy.

Sam remembers the charm necklace in the floorboard. He quickly reaches for it and tosses it to Dean. "Hold on to it and don't let go."

Dean doesn't argue. He holds the charm in his hand.

Sam grabs the "Witch Killer" box, he opens the car door, gets out, sets the box on the roof and opens it. The Baba Yaga biting Dean was the final straw.

A dark fog exits the box with lightening striking in the fog. The fog quickly heads straight for one of the two Baba Yaga witches as they try escaping on their flying mortars. Sam pulls his gun and shoots the other witch. It takes 3 shots, but he hits her. She falls off her mortar screaming in pain. Their screams are almost deafening. Sam covers his ears.

The fog soon lifts off the witch and returns to the box. The lid closes on it's own. He opens it again and the fog goes after the witch in the car. She was pleading with Sam not to kill her. Now all he hears are her screams as the fog kills her. The fog returns to the box and the lid closes. Dean pulls the key from his pocket and locks the box.

Sam cautiously approaches the witch he shot. She's dead. He uses his machete and lobs her head off. It's the one known as Elise. He pulls out a gallon size zip lock bag and uses a hunting knife to remove her heart and place it in the bag.

He removes a ring off her finger that's glowing green. The witch that the fog killed not far from Elise also had the same ring on. Sam picks it up from her pile of ashes. Their rings and clothing were all that's left of the other two witches. They are nothing but piles of ashes within women's clothing.

Sam returns to the car with the heart. He grabs the third ring from the ashes and places them in seperate bags. He puts the rings, heart and "Witch Killer" box in the trunk, then pulls out a shovel.

Sam goes to the passenger side and opens the door. He removes the dress from the seat. He takes his flannel shirt off and uses it to dust off the seat of any remaining dust from the Baba Yaga killed in the MOL car.

Dean gets out and moves to the front seat.

Sam's concerned. "How are you feeling?"

Dean pulls up the sleeve on his shirt and shows Sam the bite. "The all over pain has subsided. Now it just hurts where I was bit."

"That's a relief. I was hoping we didn't need Rowena's help. She's not going to be happy when we tell her what happened. She was expecting me to bring her 2 Baba Yaga hearts. I only have one." Sam starts to head for a wooded area behind the barn to dig a grave.

"Wait." Dean goes to get out, but can't. There's no door handle. "What the fuck?"

"Oh. Sorry. Hang on." Sam walks back and opens his door.

Dean limps over to a stall in the barn. He lifts a large plastic tote and tries carrying it to the car.

Sam quickly drops the shovel and runs over to take it from Dean. "What is this?"

"Some of their most prized possessions. Stuff they were willing to kill us to protect." Dean limps his way back into the passenger seat.

Sam places the tote into the back seat.

~~~~~

Sam's exhausted from digging the grave, then doing a salt and burn on the witch that wasn't ashes.

They get home and shower.

Sam helps bandage Deans wounds before starting on dinner.

Sam feeds his brother his favorite meal besides hamburgers. Steak. He also made a left over baked potatoes with all the fixings Dean likes including bacon bits.

Dean's on his 4th beer, Sam's on his 5th when they decide it's time to open the plastic tote and see what's inside.

Sam made sure Dean was wearing the anti-witch's curse charm necklace. He explained everything to Dean about what Rowena had done to help him.

Sam shows Dean the marker drawing of the charm on his upper arm. It's somewhat faded from his shower, but bold enough for now.

"That's a good idea Sammy. We should get this permanently tattooed." Dean looks at the charm from around his neck and Sam's ink on his arm. It's a perfect match.

Sam opens the tote and the first thing they see is an embroidered blanket. It has to be hundreds of years old. It tells the witches' story one square at a time from their youth in France, Denmark, then Spain. They moved to many places all over Europe. They've been to the Middle East and Asia. The stories are happy and sad. Men they loved and left behind. Children they gave birth to, but always died within a week after birth. They believed it was a curse. So many stories within the stitching of this colorful blanket. Sam folds it back up and sets it aside.

The next items they find are several small urns. Each one has a name, birth date and date of death engraved into it. Looking at the dates, most of the urns have a days old or a week old child inside. Sam sets aside all of the urns. "We should go to a cemetery and bury these."

"If you want." Dean is still angry. Sam can't blame him.

Dean's phone buzzes. "Hello?"

"Mr. Campbell, we have your Impala. Were you going to be able to pick her up today?"

"Oh, Yes! What time do you close?"

"We'll be here till 7 tonight."

"What do I owe ya?"

"You already paid the towing company. I'm not gonna charge you for storage if you pick her up today. Just remember me when you need tires or something you can't manage on your own."

"You know I will Mike. Thanks." Dean hangs up. He looks at Sam, "I need you to take me to get Baby. She's at Mike's."

Sam places everything back in the tote and puts the lid on.

~~~~~

An hour later they're back and Dean's all smiles. Mike cleaned Baby up and filled her tank. Dean gave Mike $100. It's the least he could do. They checked the trunk when they got back and everything's still where it should be.

Sam sits down and starts going through the tote again. He finds an old leather wrapped notebook and a more modern looking journal like the one his father had. He opens the old leather one and the hand writing is in Spanish and Latin. Luckily, he can read it. The other journal is written in Spanish and English. He sets them aside to read later.

Sam's eyes get big. "Dean! You gotta see this!"

Dean goes to the tote and Sam starts pulling out gold figurines wrapped in cotton towels and glass mason jars filled with gold coins, also wrapped in towels.

Dean picks up a jar of coins. "These are Russian rubles... wait, there's some coins from France in here too." Dean starts shaking the jar to look at different coins.

Sam grabs the jar away from him. "You'll damage the coins doing that. Get a towel and exam gloves. You can then gently remove them and lay them out to look at them. Each one could be worth a thousand dollars or more."

"Really? That much?" Dean's shocked.

"Yes. Clanking them together causes imperfections that brings down their value at appraisal. Each one will need to be appraised and placed in a protective case by a professional company that does that. I did some coin collecting in college as a hobby. Lost my collection in the fire." Sam goes back to looking at the golden figurine of a child ballerina that he's holding.

Dean sets the jar of coins down. He walks behind where Sam's sitting and hugs him. Sam closes his eyes and his breathing slows as he accepts Dean's comforting gesture.

"It's getting late. Lets mess with this later. Just leave it sit here for now."


	4. Really Rowena?!

Sam places the lid on the tote and follows Dean to his bedroom.

"Would you mind bunking here with me tonight?" Dean sits on his bed and looks embarrassed he's asking this of Sam.

Sam gets it. In fact, after what he's been through, he was considering asking Dean the same question. "Let me grab my blanket."

Sam leaves and quickly returns. Deans already on one side of his bed. Sam gets into Dean's bed and wraps up in his own blanket.

"Thanks for staying Sammy." Dean curls up facing Sam.

Sam turns off the lamp. "I get it. Try to get some sleep." Sam has noticed that his brother hasn't told him anything about his captivity except for the fact he got bit and felt their venom until they died.

Sam watches his brother as he starts falling asleep. He thinks he feels Dean hold his hand, but he can't be sure. He also thinks he heard Dean say, "Don't let them get me Sammy." Sam was just too exhausted to stay awake a moment longer.

~~~~~

"SAAAAMMMM!!" Dean sits straight up. He's out of breath and covered in sweat.

"Dean!" Sam sits up. "I'm here Dean."

Dean quickly embraces his brother.

Sam hugs him back. "Hey, we're okay. It was just a dream."

Dean's shaking. "I was in hell again. That bitch put me in hell again Sammy. While I was locked up, she forced me to re-live Alastair and my first week in hell. Those were my most painful memories because I left you witnessing my death by hell hounds. You needed my help against Lilith and I couldn't be there. Then the pain of my flesh being ripped from my body by Alastair. Muscle being pulled from my bones. My eyes being gouged out." Dean starts to cry.

Sam just holds Dean and wishes he could kill those bitches all over again. He has to give Dean something else to focus on. "Don't think about it anymore Dean. We're okay. We survived Alastair, Lilith, Azazel, Lucifer, Crowley and all the demons and angels in between. We're still here. They aren't."

Dean takes deep breaths. Sam's calm voice and soothing words have chased away the bad images and memories. "Thanks Sam."

Sam sees that it's already after 8am. "Are you up or do you need some more sleep?"

Dean gets out of bed. "I'm up." He puts his robe on as the cool air gives him a chill against his damp skin from his nightmare.

"You go clean up. I'll make us breakfast." Sam heads toward the kitchen while Dean gets a change of clothes and goes to the showers.

~~~~~

Dean comes into the kitchen to find coffee made and Sam cooking.

They have french toast with real maple syrup, fresh berries with yogurt (Dean eats his with whipped cream), bacon and orange juice.

After breakfast, Rowena shows up to collect her Baba Yaga hearts.

Sam sighs. "The other two witches turned to ashes and dust."

"Did you at least save some of their ashes for me?" Rowena looks hopeful as she puts the witch's heart in her handbag.

Sam hands her a small test tube full of ashes with a cork in it.

She smiles. "Thank you Samuel. I knew you'd remember me."

"We had an agreement and I did my best to fulfill it."

"Aye. You did." She places the tube in a special part of her handbag.

"Are you boys okay? No side effects?" She blinks as she looks between the brothers.

Dean looks confused. "Side effects?"

"Residual lingering spells or curses? Wounds that aren't healing? Nightmares?..."

"Nightmares?" She has Sam's attention.

"Oh yes. Powerful witches have a way of making sure their victims can't get a decent nights sleep. They force their victims to relive their worst nightmares every time they fall asleep." Rowena looks between the two brothers. "Both of you?"

Sam nods and then Dean follows.

Sam explains, "I'm use to having nightmares every night since the wall in my head came down and memories of hell surfaced. It's just part of who I am now."

"Oh my." Rowena pulls out a pen from her bag and grabs a paper napkin. She writes down a small list of ingredients and writes out a small incantation. She hands the napkin to Sam. "Recite the incantation over your cup of tea made with these ingredients. Do this every night before bed and you won't have a bad dream. Guaranteed."

Sam looks at the list of ingredients and remembers his box of mushrooms and herbs that should be at his P.O. Box no later than 10am.

Dean looks at the ingredients and cringes. "Can't be mint and honey."

Rowena smirks. "If you add mint and honey you'll dream about fey creatures."

Dean's eyes get big and he almost wants to hit her. How dare she even brings up those evil sons of bitches!

Sam steps between them. "Dean!"

Rowena laughs. "Did you meet Oberon?"

Sam turns Rowena toward the exit before a real fight ensues. "Thanks for the tea recipe, Rowena. This will be very helpful. We need to get ready to go, so thanks for stopping by."

She's all smiles. "One day you'll have to tell me all about your time with the fey. They fascinate me."

Sam tells her, while escorting her to the exit, "If you knew them, they wouldn't fascinate you, but horrify you. My best advice is to keep salt or sugar handy. Toss some on the ground. They are forced to stop what they're doing and count every dropped granule."

"It's why you toss salt over your shoulder Samuel. Keeps them from meddling in your potions while you're cooking." She winks.

He smirks at her. "You've had a run in or two with them yourself."

"Aye." She holds up her thumb and index finger showing an inch gap. "The wee naked ladies are the worst!"

Dean is standing near by and hears her. "See Sam! I told you! I zapped naked Tinker Bell in the microwave!"

Rowena yells, "Good for you!!"

She turns and leaves.

Sam is laughing.

"What's so funny" Dean's standing there with his arms crossed and not laughing.

Sam takes a deep breath. "I was soulless, but I remember going off on that crazy woman. Told her if she wants to add glitter to that glue she's sniffing, that's fine, but don't dump her whack-a-doo all over us. We'd rather not step in it."

Both Sam and Dean burst into tons of laughter.

Sam heads toward his room to get dressed.

Dean's already dressed. He starts to go back into the kitchen when he notices something. "SAM!"

Sam runs into the library wearing only his boxers, socks, t-shirt and blue flannel shirt that's still unbuttoned. He's got his gun ready. "DEAN?!"

Dean grins at his brother in his underwear looking like he's ready to take on the big bad.

Sam sees no threat and lowers his gun. He gives Dean an epic bitch face. It honestly warms Dean's heart.

Dean points at the open tote and missing items.

They get closer and see that one jar of coins and a box from the bottom of the tote are missing.

"Rowena." Sam's livid.

Dean gathers the other items and puts them back in the tote. He carries the tote to the armory and opens the small walk in vault. He sets the tote on a lower shelf and then locks it up. The vault is warded. The armory is also warded.

Sam gets dressed. He's pissed off at himself.

Dean's sitting in the library. "We should have locked it up last night!"

Sam walks into the library after getting dressed. "I never saw her take anything and I was beside her the whole time."

"Sammy, she's a witch."

Sam calls her.

"Hello Samuel."

"Bring what you took from that tote back." Sam's anger is obvious in his tone.

"I took one jar of coins and a dress. What do you boys need wi..."

"I SAID BRING IT BACK!" Sam's in no mood for her mouth.

Dean takes the phone from Sam. "The items you took are obviously cursed. We can't take any chances with these Baba Yagas. We're going to catalog each item and add them to the cursed items kept here in this bunker. This place keeps items like you're carrying from ending up in the wrong hands and creating more evil beings. We do NOT want any more Baba Yagas inadvertantly created. Do you understand?"

"I'm perfectly capable of lifting any curse off of these items." Rowena is stubborn as ever.

"No one's doubting your skills as a witch. We're also not doubting the craftiness of the Baba Yagas. Please. Last thing you or any of us needs right now is for you to become irrevocably cursed or harmed over these items. The risk is too great and you know it." Dean is already thinking about what he and Sam might need to do to get these items from her.

"Fine." She hangs up.

There's a knock at the bunker door.

Sam opens it and sees a paper bag. Inside are the missing items. Sam brings the bag inside and hands it to Dean.

Dean goes to the armory and returns the items to the tote in the vault while wearing leather gloves. Dean trusts no one and nothing right now.

The brothers go to town and Dean is thrilled to be driving his Baby again. They pick up Sam's package from the post office. They then get some groceries before heading home.

~~~~~

That night, Sam makes Rowena's tea for Dean and himself.

He's sleeping in Dean's room again just in case this remedy is a failure.

Sam recites the incantation over his tea and drinks some. "It's not bad."

Dean repeats the incantation the way Sam says it, but over his own cup of tea. He then drinks some. "Sam, this is horrible." He tries not to gag as he just downs the rest while holding his nose.

Sam finishes his and then takes both of their cups and places them on the nightstand. He then turns the lamp off.

They both fall asleep quickly and wake up refreshed at a little after 7:30am.

Dean smiles. "No bad dreams!"

"Same!" Sam is truly happy.

~~~~~

**_Four Days Later_ **

"I can't take it any more Samuel! I need your help. You owe me one." Rowena sounds desperate.

Sam rolls his eyes. "Where are you?"

She gives her address in Palm Springs, Florida.

"You realize how far that is?" Sam hates this.

"Please?"

Sam is shocked. Rowena rarely says please.

"It's going to take us almost 2 days to get there. Have you salted and burned her heart?"

_Silence_

"Rowena?"

"No. Are you sure it's her haunting me?"

Sam sighs. "Her name is Elise. Her sisters are already on the other side. She has unfinished business, revenge. Salt and burn her heart. Call me back if that doesn't work." Sam hangs up.

~~~~~

_**Two Days Later** _

Dean checks his wound on his arm. It's scabbed over enough, he doesn't need to keep it bandaged anymore.

Dean's bedroom door is open. Sam peeks in. "Hey, have you heard from Rowena?"

"No. Maybe we should call." Dean folds his arms over his chest.

"Why am I always the one calling her?" Sam pulls out his phone.

"Cause you're the cougar magnet." Dean smiles.

"Ha ha." Sam's not laughing.

He dials Rowena and she answers.

"Hello?" Rowena sounds different.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Sam's concerned.

"I'm fine _Sam_. Why wouldn't I be?"

She called him _Sam_. Not _Samuel_ or _Moose_ , but plain _Sam_.

"You said you were going to come over. You never did." Sam's hoping she'll come over.

"I have plans today. Maybe sometime tomorrow?" Her Scottish accent is muted down.

"Sounds good. Hope to see you then."

"Goodbye Sam." She hangs up.

Sam's shoulders fall.

"What?" Dean's curious.

"Pack up. We're driving to Palm Springs, Florida."

~~~~~

On the way to Florida, they stop in Memphis, Tennessee for some barbecue that Dean has raved about.

They also stop at a tattoo parlor and have the anti-witch charm/emblem tattooed onto their left shoulders.

They stop at a place in Georgia that has the absolute best peach pies and cobblers.

~~~~~

They finally make it to Rowena's loft apartment overlooking the beach. Witch killing bullets in their guns, Sam and Dean enter Rowena's home.

Rowena hits Dean on the head with a pestle that a Baba Yaga would use. Dean falls to the ground.

"DEAN!" Sam was about to go to Dean's aid when Rowena goes after Sam.

Sam points his weapon at her. "Don't Rowena! These are witch killing bullets! Don't make me kill you!"

She smiles, "Oh foolish child. You think Rowena is still here?" She casts a spell meant to paralyze Sam.

Sam throws his hand up, but the spell does nothing to him. His tattoo is protecting him.

She's frustrated. She starts shifting into a snake.

Dean comes up behind her and hits her over the head with one of Rowena's heavy pewter candle holders. It knocks her out cold.

He looks at Sam. "We gotta find that heart and fast!" Dean quickly ties Rowena up.

The men search the entire apartment without finding the heart of Elise.

Sam finds something else. "Dean, check this out."

Dean looks at what Sam is showing him. It's a spell that includes the heart of a Baba Yaga. The spell was suppose to give Rowena shapeshifting powers. "Do you think Rowena did the spell?"

Sam nods. "For sure. It's why she almost shifted into a snake before you knocked her out."

Dean's confused. "So, she's not a Baba Yaga?"

Sam can't believe Dean hasn't figured it out yet. "She's possessed by Elise. I'm guessing the dress Rowena's wearing belonged to Elise. She was suppose to return it with the coins. She probably swapped Elise's dress for some other dress. The one in our vault at the bunker isn't Elise's dress." He points at Rowena's unconscious body. "That dress is Elise's dress."

Dean smirks. "How do you know?"

"Think about the dresses Rowena wears. Does that look anything like something she'd wear?"

The dress is dark blue with tiny yellow flowers all over it. It has spaghetti straps and stops at her knees.

"You're right. She'd never wear that. All her dresses are long with long sleeves." Dean bites his bottom lip and then smiles at Sam. "Go take it off her and burn it."

Sam wrinkles his brow in disgust. "NO WAY! YOU DO IT!"

Dean throws his hands up. "I knocked her out and tied her up! You can do the rest, cougar magnet." He flops onto the sofa.

Sam decides to be mature about this. He shows Dean his fist.

"Fine. Fair enough." Dean sits up and makes a fist.

They shake their fists three times.

Sam throws out a fist.

Dean throws out a flat hand. "HA! No scissors this time Sammy!! Paper covers rock!! Eat it!!" He falls back onto the sofa and gets comfortable. "Chop chop! We don't have all day."

"Fuck my life!" Sam grabs a throw blanket off the recliner. He gets a pair of scissors from the butcher block on her kitchen counter. He covers her up and then cuts the fabric from her tiny body. He makes sure to keep her covered the whole time.

Sam holds the cut up dress in his hand. "I got it!"

Dean already found a metal trash bin and some newspaper. Sam tosses the dress in the trash bin and Dean lights a piece of newspaper. The dress starts going up in flames.

Rowena startles awake as the spirit inside her jumps out and suddenly bursts into flames.

Sam and Dean quickly turn away from Rowena who is sitting up with her breasts exposed. She smirks, "You boys act like you haven't seen boobs before."

Dean rolls his eyes at Sam.

Sam comments, "Don't start. Just, please go get dressed."

She's already up with the throw around her body. "Moose. Always so polite. I'll be right back. Help yourselves to whatever's in the ice box."

Sam's closest to the fridge. He opens it and takes a look. He quickly closes it.

"Do I wanna know?" Dean is curious.

Sam looks like he wants to throw up. "No. Not only no, but hell no." Sam goes to take a seat in the other room next to Dean.

Rowena quickly returns and takes a seat across from the brothers. "Sorry about the mess I caused. I had no idea her spirit would be attatched to a dress. I was going to use her heart in my spell, so I knew it would be destroyed completely in the process."

Dean's trying to stay calm. "We told you the coins AND dress were cursed."

"Cursed! Not haunted! Big difference there, _Deeean_." She looks at her nails. "Oh! I need a manicure. These spirits don't care what they do to your body."

Sam and Dean get up at the same time. Sam warns her as they leave, "Don't use your new shapeshifting powers in ways that cause us to come after you. We know where you live and I don't want go shoot you."

She's standing at her door as the men exit. She pats Sam on his cheek. "That's the nicest thing you've said to me. I know what I'm doing Samuel." She closes her door on them.

Dean shakes his head. "Sure she does."

~~~~~

Dean drives up South Ocean Boulevard and Sam keeps staring out toward the ocean. Dean pulls into a driveway and turns off the ignition.

"What are you doing?" Sam looks around.

"Taking a breather." He gets out of the car and pops the trunk.

Sam gets out and follows. "A breather?"

"Yes, Sam, a breather." He pulls out Sam's swim shorts, beach towels and sun block. He hands them to Sam. He pulls out his own swim shorts and the beer cooler before closing the trunk.

"Does someone live here?" Sam doesn't want to have the police called on them.

"Relax. I rented it online." Dean smiles. It's ours for three days.

Sam lights up like he just killed Lucifer. "You serious?!"

"Yes! The key's around back in a fake rock that actually has a code to unlock." Dean shrugs.

They open the back gate that leads to the beach and they both just stand there a moment. The view of the beach is just like a painting.

They find the rock and enter the code Dean was given online. They open the house and it's gorgeous.

"I can't believe you did this." Sam's stunned at what Dean's done. It's perfect.

"Happy birthday Sammy." Dean smiles as he sets down the beer cooler.

"It's not..." He has to think a minute. His eyebrows go up. "Wow! I almost forgot my own birthday."

Dean's excited. "Let's hurry up and change so we can get some sun before it gets dark."

Sam quickly hugs his brother tight. He's obviously misty eyed.

Dean hugs him back. "Hey, none of that."

Sam nods and takes a deep breath. He steps back. "This is what I've needed for a long time."

Dean pats his cheek. "You and me both."

~~~~~

They change into swim shorts. Put on some sun block and take the beer cooler out onto the beach.

They jump into the waves and breathe in the salty air. Take in everything around them and put it to memory.

Dean plays music off his cellphone while they drink beer and relax in the sand.

Sam looks for shells and just enjoys the feel of the sand under his feet.

As the sun goes down, they see the moon rising over the water. "Dean, I've never seen anything as beautiful as this. Have you?" Sam turns around and finds Dean asleep on his beach chair with his legs stretched out, ankles crossed and his arms crossed over his chest. His head tilted some and quietly snoozing away.

Sam sighs. "Figures."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading "A Witch's Heart". Please let me know what you think. Your kudos and comments encourage me more than you could ever imagine. ❤


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